Writers have just a few paragraphs at best to sell a magazine editor on their terrific story idea. Join Down East magazine managing editor Brian Kevin as he gently (but firmly) explains how to not screw up a pitch.

“Every mag editor is a delicate flower,” quips Kevin, “and from calling on the telephone to flash-pitching multiple ideas to getting the name of the freaking magazine wrong, there are about 100 ways to make one wilt before they even started considering your pitch.”

In a presentation that’s conversational and none-too-earnest, attendees will hear about some of the most egregious—yet avoidable—pitching pitfalls. Kevin will also dissect several real-life pitches (the good, the bad, and the absurd) as he describes how to identify tropes, grab an editor’s attention, and understand the crucial difference between pitching a topic and pitching a story.

This presentation, co-sponsored by the Bangor Public Library, will address pitches for both long-form and short-form work—from reportage to reviews to essays—with an emphasis on consumer magazines, rather than trade or literary publications. There will be ample time throughout the session for questions, and attendees are welcome to submit questions in advance via email: send to perry@mainewriters.org with the subject line “PITCH QUESTION.”

Co-sponsored by:

Brian Kevin is the managing editor of Down East and has written for Outside, Travel + Leisure, Men’s Journal, Audubon, Mother Jones, and a number of other magazines. His work has been recognized or anthologized in Best Food Writing, Best American Essays, and Best American Sports Writing, and his book The Footloose American: Following the Hunter S. Thompson Trail Across South America received the MWPA’s Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2015. VISIT briankevin.com